


Weird Shit: A Carta Thug's Journey in the Fade

by danceswithhamsters01



Series: Reddit Prompts [94]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Demons, Dragon Age: Inquisition Quest - Champions of the Just, Gen, Non-Graphic Violence, Swearing, The Fade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:20:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24134980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/danceswithhamsters01/pseuds/danceswithhamsters01
Summary: Based on a prompt from r/dragonage:Prompt 5 Dwarven Centric A Dwarf reacts to their first brush with dreams or the Fade (the most common impossible thing in Thedas).Maia Cadash went to Therinfall Redoubt to seek the aid of the Templar Order in sealing the Breach. She was about to confront the Lord Seeker when things took a turn for the strange, namely because dwarves don't usually visit the Fade, ever.
Series: Reddit Prompts [94]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1153856
Kudos: 1





	Weird Shit: A Carta Thug's Journey in the Fade

It’d happened so fast. One moment, she’d been stomping up the steps to confront the so-called Lord Seeker, he’d grabbed her and slammed her against the door… and now she was… wherever this place was. Maia spun around, looking for any hint of the Lord Seeker. Instead, what greeted her eyes was some indistinct place muffled with a sickly green fog. It didn’t _look_ like the other parts of Therinfall Redoubt she’d seen. She knew from what little dealings she’d had with mages that magic was… well, weird shit, but this right here, in a _templar stronghold?_ This took the entire sodding _cake!_ And the wine, and the damned silverware to boot! Shit, it took the entire dining room!

She squeezed her eyes shut and took a few steadying deep breaths, biting the inside of her cheek for good measure. A tiny thread of confusion arose in the back of her mind when no pain accompanied the action. _I’m going numb, this can’t be good. Did he hit me with something? Some little poison-coated needle, perhaps?_ She began patting herself over, but nothing resembling pain registered with her senses, only the feel of her new leather armor and the coolness of the woven chain attached to it that jingled as she moved. She opened her eyes and forced herself to swallow the wave of panic screaming in her gut. _Right, I need to stay awake. I can’t let whatever poison he’s used on me_ _to_ _take me_ _down for the count_ _. Awake, stay awake!_ _Move, move! If I stay active, maybe I won’t get sleepy._ Seeing no other way to go, she moved forward.

She came to a stop and gasped in shock. What looked like the remains of an adult human sat on its knees, head looking upward and mouth open in a now-silent scream that could’ve been the last thing the poor bastard uttered before death. She’d seen a lot of shit in her time with the Carta, – Stone, she’d _done_ a lot of shit during her time in the Carta! – but this? Lighting the poor blighter on fire and leaving him, or maybe her, there to just burn? That was overkill even to her hardened senses. Something was odd, though. Burning flesh had a distinct smell. She took a few deep sniffs of the air. She didn’t smell _anything_ ; no smoky scent, nor any of the gag-inducing odors she associated with dead bodies. _Not good. Not good. I’m going numb and now my sniffer’s out of commission. Whatever he used on me is getting worse._

She squinted as she looked ahead, seeing even more twisted “lanterns” made of the dead kneeling and silently screaming. It was as if they were markers along a path. Looking around and seeing no other ways to travel that were not choked out by the increasingly oppressive green fog, she had no choice but to follow where they led. After wandering for a time, she saw a pair of figures standing a handful of yards away. They looked human, one woman and one man. As she drew closer, she recognized them: Commander Cullen and Ambassador Montilyet! _What are they doing here? I thought they were in Haven!_ She began trotting toward them. Perhaps they could tell what this place was! Or least get her help before the poison’s effect on her worsened.

Just as Maia reached the pair and was about to tug on Cullen’s hand to draw his attention from whatever he was staring at, Leliana came stalking out from… somewhere behind Josephine.

“Is this shape useful? Will it let me know you?” Leliana asked with a smirk. Walking in a circle around Maia, bringing to mind a predator sizing up a meal, she continued. “Everything tells me about you. So will this: Watch.”

Shock had Maia’s tongue frozen in her mouth as the Spymaster took a knife to the Commander, cutting him down without a sound. By the time it got unstuck, Leliana was backing away, the same damned smirk on her rotten damned face. “Wh… Why would you do that!?” she called after the retreating Spymaster.

Laughter pulled the dwarf’s attention back to the living human who remained by her side. “Being you will be so much more interesting than being the Lord Seeker.”

_Wait. WHAT?_

“Josephine” vanished, only to reappear behind her, leaning down to whisper into her ear. “Do you know what the Inquisition can become? You’ll see. When I’m done, the Elder One will kill you and ascend. Then I will **be** you.”

_What in the… oh what was that salty word humans liked to use for things like this? Ah yes, ‘fuck.’ WHAT IN THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!_

Spinning around, Maia found herself alone again. It was safe to assume that those… people she’d just been around weren’t entirely _people._ “I don’t know who or what you are, but either come out here and fight like you have some sodding balls or stop these mind games of yours!” She fumbled for the hidden sheaths inside her vest, hoping to feel the reassuring coldness of the steel of her just-in-case-a-deal-goes-bad knives.

Laughter heralded the return of “Josephine.” “Glory is coming. And the Elder One wants you to serve him like everyone else: by dying in the right way.”

“Keep yammering, then,” Maia growled, finding her knives and trying to be subtle about pulling them out. Sadly, the Ambassador vanished as the twin blades slashed out, biting air instead of flesh.

A voice – the Commander’s voice, to be specific – drifted up from behind her. “I am not your toy! I am Envy, and I will know you!”

She turned to see ‘Cullen’ glaring as he approached. “You’re looking good for a man who just got his throat cut a few minutes ago,” the dwarf snorted. _Whoever that is, it is not the Commander. What sort of weird shit is this? Magic?_

The man drew a knife, a small thing compared to the vastness of his hand. “Tell me, ‘Herald,’ in your mind.” He stalked up to what looked like a dwarven woman made out of solid shadow and plunged the knife into its back. “Tell me what you think.”

Maia found herself snarling but otherwise remaining silent.

Out of nowhere, the war table from Haven appeared in front of him. With a wave of his hand, several model castles carved from wood, meant to represent various cities in Orlais and Ferelden, erupted into flame. “Tell me what you feel!” If venom could have spat from his gaze, it would have.

A gasp coming from behind her drew her attention. Another dwarven woman made of solid shadow curled in on herself before falling to the ground, acting as if she’d been stabbed. Maia stared in horror at the knife held in her left hand: it was covered in blood.

A voice sounding like her own, but somehow distorted, floated on the breeze. “Tell me what you see.”

Spinning around again, the ‘Herald of Andraste’ found herself once again alone. Either the Lord Seeker had tagged her with some sort of poison that did some sort of spectacularly weird shit to her mind… or…

_Stone, please no._

Or she was in that place that the mages, the templars, and Chantry prats all talked about. That place that “spirits” and “demons” called home.

_The Fade._

“When I get out of here, I’m going to punch that Seeker in the nuts so hard he’s gonna be spitting them up!” She stomped her foot after yelling at the top of her lungs. Having nothing better to do, she wandered over to the door that chose just that exact moment to appear. _Well, let’s see what weird shit’s behind this door, shall we?_


End file.
